Tuesday, January 27, 2009

In 1986 a year after The Clash broke up, Paul Simonon formed a group known as Havana 3am. Taking their name from a 1950s album by Cuban artist Perez Prado, Havana 3am consisted of Paul Simonon on bass, Gary Myrick on guitar, and Travis Williams on drums, and Nigel Dixon on vocals. The band took their influences mainly from Reggae, Latino music, and Rockabilly music. The band recorded an album and released it in 1991. Havana 3am, contained tweleve tracks and the song "Reach the Rock", was a small radio hit. Their album mixed a variety of styles, resulting in an eclectic sounding album. After a long tour supporting the album, singer Nigel Dixion passed away in 1993. Paul Simonon also left the group around this time to have a career in art (which was his first interest before joining The Clash). Havana 3am released one more album in 1996, with a different band line up. Myrick went on the purse a solo music career.

In additon to his paintings, Paul Simonon has designed album covers for Big Audio Dynamite, and The Good, The Bad & The Queen's album cover Herculean. In 2007, Paul Simonon also played bass on the project known as The Good, The Bad & The Queen, which was a side project of Damon Albarn. In 1986, Simonon participated in sessions for the Bob Dylan album Down in the Groove. In 2008, Paul Simonon began having exhibitions for his paintings once again.

Next week I will be doing a show focusing on music that has come from Vancouver, Canada. Every show in February will have a theme. February 10th, and 17th, will be shows focusing on The Clash, and on February 24th will be my third annual Surf music special.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Coming from Montreal, Canada The Nils formed in 1978. The band was founded by Alex and Carlos Soria (they were brothers, Alex being twelve years old). Alex was the singer/guitarist/main songwriter, and Carlos was another guitarist. The band was a mix of punk and power pop, they never did achieve mainstream success, but are often seen as a very under rated group. Their sound is said to be influenced by the likes of The Replacements and Husker Du. The band also took influences from Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned, and in fact those early band caused the Soria brothers to start a group. After a series of line- up changes, the group became a three piece.

The bands first EP came in 1985, it was titled Sell Out Young and was released on Psyche Industry Records. In 1986, an EP titled Paisley was released. After the release of two EP's and being featured on two compilations (Something to Believe In (1983), and Primitive Air Raid (1984)), The Nils were offered to record a full length album for the New York independent based label, Rock Hotel/Profile Records; They of course accepted the offer and signed a contract. In 1987, The Nils was released. The album did get the band some recognition, but for some reason they never really took off. After touring in Canada and The USA, the bands label folded. When this happened Carlos Soria, left the group and got a job. Alex formed and played with other groups, but The Nils reformed in the 90's. They did not release anymore recordings (they are said to have done some demo recordings).

In 1996, a retrospective compilation titled Green Fields in Daylight was released. This collection featured 29 tracks, and included material from the bands EP, full length, along with rare and live recordings. The band quit in 1994, Alex went on with the group Chino, who never really took off either. In 2003, The Nils played some reunion shows. In 2004, Alex Soria passed away. Some have called him Canada's answer to Paul Westerberg (of the Replacements), and he has been called one Canada's most underrated writers. More information on the band can be found on the Magwheel Band History website, on The Hour Music Hall of Fame Website, and on The Nils Myspace page.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

In 2006, New Zealand garage rockers The D4 announced that they would be going on an indefinite hiatus. Guitarist and vocalist Jimmy Christmas began working on material for what to was become Luger Boa. Recorded in Auckland, New Zealand and parts of Australia, over the course of approximately 18 months songs began to take shape for what was to become the album Mutate or Die! The material for this album was actually written before a band was put together. For this album the line up featured Manny Bourakis on bass (from the band The Galvatrons), Karl Kippenberger on drums (from the band Shihad) and Jimmy Christmas did the vocals and guitar. The album was also produced by Barry Palmer (who also did some guitar work on the album).

Released in November of 2008, Mutate or Die!, deals with a variety of subjects such as evolution, confusion, isolation, and resolution. Musically the album shows influences of the likes of T-Rex and David Bowie, while keeping true to the intensive energy that was displayed with The D4. The album opens with the song "Please Please", the song chugs along with intensity, a theme that does not disappear on this album. "Mutate or Die!" appears next with a robotic voiced intro, lyrically it portrays elements of evolution, while musically it twists and bends its way into your head, with chunky guitar riffs and one note keyboards.

The dark and melodic "What is Real?" displays themes of confusion and isolation, but is easily one of the most interesting tracks on the album. "On My Mind", is a slow and melodic song, complete with salty acoustic verses and roaring choruses. "1000 Hooks" comes next. Released as a single in the summer of 2008, this was the first song made available to the public. "1000 Hooks" is a catchy rock song, the guitar work is choppy and greasy at the same time. Other interesting tracks on Mutate or Die! are "Only A Moment Away", a catchy attack and release song, "Humans Rule", a song celebrating humanity, and the slightly funky "Don't Talk To Me". Some editions of the album include the bonus track "Dirty Power".

Overall Luger Boa draws in influences of glam rock, some 70's rock and more. It is definitely worth checking out. Currently the line up for the band contains former D4 drummer Beaver Pooley on drums, Ryan Thomas on guitar, Sam Lockley on guitar, and Simon Nicholls on bass. The band has already played live dates around the New Zealand area and plays Big Day Out in 2009, with plans for a more nationwide tour after that. More information on the band can be found on the Luger Boa myspace page.

To download this week's show visit the CJAM archives and select the files 10:00 AM and 11:00 AM on January, 13th 2009. (Note: My show starts 30 minutes into the first download and the last part of my show can be found by downloading the 12:00 PM file - you will also get part of the show after mine, known as Not in My Backyard.)

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

it is sad news to report that today on January 6th, 2009 Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton was found dead in his Ann Arbor home. At 60 years old, Ron was known for his inspiring guitar techniques that he developed with The Stooges. While The Stooges did not reach commercial success, they have since their incarnation grown in underground/cult status. The Stooges released three albums starting in 1969. Ron Asheton along with drummer and borther Scott Asheton, joined forces with Iggy Pop and Dave Alexander to form The Stooges in the late 60s. The Stooges took a long break after their 1973 album Raw Power, where Ron played bass.

Ron was also involved in various musical projects such as the short lived band he formed with Scott Asheton New Order, Destroy All Monsters, The New Race (which also contained members of the Australian band Radio Birdman), The Empty Set, and Dark Carnival. He also formed a one off side project known as The Wylde Rattz, which contained Mark Arm (Mudhoney), Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Mike Watt, and Steve Shelley. This group recorded a bunch of songs for the movie Velvet Goldmine and would be featured on its soundtrack. The Stooges reformed in 2003 for an Iggy Pop solo album known as Skull Ring. In 2007, The Stooges released their first full length album since 1973's Raw Power. The Weirdness was produced by Steve Albini. The Stooges toured heavily through out since their reformation. The Stooges last played live in Moscow on September, 24th, 2008.

Warren Kinsella (bass/vocals), Pierre Schenk (guitar), and Alan McDonald (drums) formed a group known as The Hot Nasties in 1976; The band would also contain Wayne Ahem on rhythm guitar and Tom Edwards on drums (he would take over for McDonald who would go onto another Canadian punk band The Sturgeons). Coming from Calgary, Alberta, the band originally went by the name The Social Blemishes. In 1977, they changed their name to the Not Nasties, naming themselves after a triple x rated film.

In 1980, the Hot Nasties released their Invasion of the Tribbles EP. The EP was released on Social Blemish Records, Kinsella's own label. The Ep contained three songs, the chugging punk of "I Am A Confused Teenager", the hectic "Invasion of the Tribbles", and the slow and chunky "The Secret of Immortality". The band would release a full length album of songs on cassette (which is extremely hard to find now), shortly after the release of their first EP. In 1981, the band split up.

In 1994, the bands Invasion of the Tribbles EP was featured on the Canadian punk rock compilation Smash the State Volume 1. Besides playing bass in a punk band in the late 70s/80s, Warren Kinsella would go onto become a Canadian Lawyer, author, and politician. In 2005, he formed a new band called Shit From Hell, releasing an album and Kinsella also released a self titled album as well. The Hot Nasties are a short lived Canadian punk band and while they only have had a few releases they are still known as part of Canadian punk rock history.

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About The Show

Revolution Rock is an award winning radio program on CJAM FM that first began broadcasting on CJAM’s airwaves in the late night hours of June 2004. Revolution Rock focuses on 60s garage rock, 70s punk/new wave, surf, alternative, indie and new/old music within those genres. Currently the show can be heard Saturday's from 7-9 PM on CJAM 99.1 FM (in the Windsor/Detroit area) and streamed online at cjam.ca. This is an informative blog that provides band profiles, download links to the radio show, playlists and more.

About Me

I am the host of the Revolution Rock radio program on CJAM 99.1 FM (Windsor/Detroit), freelance blogger/writer, musician and film maker.
Download links to my show are provided by the the CJAM website and can be found at the bottom of each play list on this blog and can also be subscribed to as a podcast.